Miss Trixie’s Biscuit-Covered Vanilla Birthday Cake
Joyful, nostalgic, and over-the-top in the best way – this is the ultimate dessert for a birthday party.
It's Bed Threads' 9th birthday! For almost a decade, we've visited the kitchens (and dining rooms) of some of our favourite chefs, bakers, and home cooks around the world, who have paired their culinary creations with our 100% French flax linen tableware. To celebrate nine years of Bed Threads, we asked Melbourne baker Alice Bennett (AKA Miss Trixie) to create the ultimate birthday cake, inspired by the over-the-top, nostalgic, quintessentially Australian designs from childhood birthday parties. Below, find out how to make Alice's perfected vanilla cake – grab your favourite sweet treats and start decorating!
"After years and years of testing, this is the vanilla cake I can swear by. Follow every step to a tee and you'll be craving this cake every day of the week. You simply cannot beat a really good vanilla cake. It reminds me of my childhood and screams celebration!"
Ingredients
• 135 grams unsalted butter
• 40 grams canola or vegetable oil
• 25 grams vanilla extract
• 5 grams table salt
• 400 grams caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 215 milliliters full fat milk
• 100 grams sour cream
• 325 grams plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced. Line one 8-inch round tin with baking paper and grease the sides with cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together 135g unsalted butter, 400g caster sugar, 40g canola or vegetable oil, 5g table salt, and 25g vanilla extract. Take your time here, this needs a good long whip until it's very very pale and fluffy. If it isn't nearly white, you're not done yet.
3. Add 4 large eggs, half at a time. Beat until well incorporated before adding the rest, and scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl so nothing gets left behind.
4. Bring 215ml full fat milk to room temperature in a microwave-safe bowl – this step matters more than you'd think. Blend in 100g sour cream with a stick blender until silky smooth, with absolutely no lumps.
5. Sift the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, sift 325g plain flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder together, then whisk to combine.
6. Add half the flour mixture to the batter and mix. Pour in half the milk mixture and mix again until just combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk. Keep going until everything is smooth, lump-free, and consistent in colour with no streaks or ribbons.
7. Pour the batter into your prepared tin and cover with foil. Foil ensures a more even bake! Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let it cool in the tin before flipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Decorate however your heart desires. For the Bed Threads 9th Birthday Cake, I used my favourite buttercream, plus classic Australian biscuits and party mix lollies.
Note: If your batter looks a little split after adding the milk and sour cream mixture, don't panic, just add a touch more plain flour.
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